Former MLB pitcher Tracy Stallard, best known for giving up Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961, has passed away at the age of 80. His cause of death is unknown.
Stallard signed with the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1956 making his big league debut late in the 1960 season. After surrendering Maris' 61st home run, Stallard only made one other appearance in a Bosox uniform. Prior to the 1963 season, Stallard was traded along with Pumpsie Green (the first African-American to play with the Sox) to the New York Mets for Felix Mantilla.
In 1964, Stallard would lead the NL in losses with 20. One of those losses was against Jim Bunning on the day he threw his perfect game. Despite those 20 losses, Stallard finished with a respectable 3.79 ERA on a team that lost 109 games. The Mets traded Stallard to the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 1965 season. Stallard won 11 games with the Cardinals in 1965, but was demoted to the bullpen in 1966 and never pitched in the bigs after that though he continued in pro baseball as a minor leaguer in both the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals organizations and also pitched in the Mexican League in the early 1970's. In parts of seven seasons, Stallard finished with a record of 30-57 with a 4.17 ERA in 183 games pitched.
A native of Virginia, Stallard eschewed publicity especially with those who wanted to talk about Roger Maris. Nevertheless, Stallard will always be a part of baseball lore.
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